Skirt-gage.



N. LEWSEN. SKIRTYGA GE. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 21, 1909.

Patented Dec.28,1909.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NICOLAUS LEWSEN, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

SKIRT-GAGE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec. 28 19()9 Applicationfiled January 21, 1909.

Serial No. 473,459.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, NICOLAUS Lnwsnw, of Portland, in the county ofCumberland, State of Maine, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Skirt-Gages, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a skirt gage such as are used for trimming thelower edges of ladies skirts.

My invention relates particularly to that class of skirt gages in whicha ring is supported on the upper ends of vertical rods and is raised andlowered by racks and pinions or other equivalent devices. In these, thering has two or more points of support and each is usually provided withraising and lowering devices.

The object of my invention is to construct a gage of this class whichwill do away with the whole or the greater part of the hoistingmechanism, forming a skirt gage which will be simple, cheaply made,easily operated and kept in repair.

To this end the invention comprises a ring member and a base member, thering member being supported from the base at a single point only at oneside of the center thereof, through the medium of a rod which extendsfrom one of said members and passes loosely through a socket in theother of said members, whereby the height of the ring may be readilyadjusted to any desired height and its own weight will serve to hold thesame in its adjusted position.

I illustrate my invention by means of the accompanying drawing in whichFigure 1 is a side elevation of a skirt gage constructed according to myinvention, with a portion in section on the line -g of Fig. 2, Fig. 2 isa plan with section on the line ww of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a verticalsection showing a simple manner of constructing the device.

Referring to the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, Adesignates a base upon which the person to be fitted stands, said basebeing provided with supporting legs a, a, a, and 0. Adjustably supportedupon the base A is the marking ring B, which in the form illustrated inthe drawing, is in the form of a flat ring from the inner edge of whichdepends a vertical flange. The ring B is supported upon the base from asingle point at one side of the center thereof, a rod 1) being utilizedfor this purpose, said rod depending from the periphery of the ring andbeing secured thereto by a screw 6 or in any other suitable manner. Therod 6 loosely engages a socket 0 formed in the supporting leg 0 of thebase. From this construction it will be apparent that the ring may bereadily raised and lowered relative to the base to adjust the same andthat when the ring is so adjusted the weight thereof will cause the rod6 carried thereby to bind in the socket cand thereby hold the said ringagainst movement. To further adjust the ring or to restore the same toits normal position, it is simply necessary to raise the periphery aslight distance to relieve the rod b from the binding action of thesocket 0, after which the ring may be readily adjusted. The ring ispreferably provided with means for raising and lowering the same, and inthe form of invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, this is accomplishedby forming a rack on the inner surface of the rod 6 which is engaged bya pinion (Z carried by a shaft d which is journaled in a suitablebearing d formed on the leg 0. The shaft d is provided with an operatinghandle of any convenient type.

When the ring is to be used the person to be fitted stands on the base Aand the portion of the periphery of .the ring opposite the rod 6 iselevated slightly, after which the ring can be readily raised to thedesired height by manipulating the handle (Z In Fig. 3 of the inventiona simpler form of the device is illustrated, the ring 6 in this instancebeing provided with a rod depending from the periphery thereof whichfits loosely in a socket 6 formed in the floor e or the base member. Asin the form of the invention hitherto described, the weight of the ringbeing at one side of the supporting rod causes the same to bind in itssocket so that the ring will be automatically maintained in any positionto which it may be adjusted. While the supporting rod and its socket areshown as being circular in cross section, it is obvious that they may beof any other suitable cross section.

While several convenient embodiments of the invention are illustrated inthe drawings, it is obvious that many changes may be made in the formstherein shown without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim 1. A skirt gage comprising a base member, a ring member, and asingle support at one side of the center of the ring member adjustablyconnecting the same to the base member, said support comprising a rodextending from one of said members and loosely engaging a socket formedin the other of said members, the weight of the ring member normallyholding the same in a slightly canted position to cause the rod to bindin the socket.

2. A skirt gage comprising a base member having a socket formed therein,a ring member, and a rod depending from the periphery of said ringmember and loosely engaging the socket in the base member, whereby theweight of the ring member serves to normally cant the rod and cause thesame to bind in the socket to hold the ring against movement.

3. A skirt gage comprising a base member having a socket formed therein,a ring member, a single supporting rod depending from the periphery ofthe ring member and loosely engaging the socket in the base mem ber, theweight of the ring member normally holding the same in a slightly cantedposition to cause the rod to bind in the socket, and means for raisingand lowering said ring member.

4. A skirt gage comprising a base member having a socket formed therein,a ring member, a single supporting rod depending from the periphery ofsaid ring member and loosely engaging the socket in the base member, theweight of the ring member nor mally holding the same in a slightlycanted position to cause the rod to bind in the socket, said supportingrod being provided with a rack, and a gear carried by the base memberand meshing with the rack on the supporting rod.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 16th day of January,1909.

NIOOLAUS LEVSEN.

Witnesses S. V. BATES, E. W. DENNIS.

